Former Google CEO gives simple advice to help focus on work

(Dan Tri) - Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, has just given a simple piece of advice for those who want to focus on work or have relaxing moments in the most effective way.

Eric Schmidt was CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, then became Chairman of the company from 2011 to 2015.

He is considered one of the important contributors in the Internet era, helping to popularize technology and the Internet to users worldwide.

Besides Google, Eric Schmidt also works at other technology companies such as Apple, Sun Microsystems, Novell...

After a long time working in the technology industry, Eric Schmidt realized that the best way to focus on work or have moments of true relaxation is to stay away from technology, specifically "turn off the phone".

“I work with a lot of people in their 20s in research, and one of the questions I ask is how can they focus on their research when there is so much stimulation around them?” Eric Schmidt shared during an online interview.

Eric Schmidt believes that smartphones have affected many people's concentration on work as well as their leisure time (Photo: Getty).

“I can answer this question definitively. Because they turned off their phones. You can’t think deeply and concentrate fully on your work when your phone keeps ringing,” Schmidt added.

During his 10 years as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt played a key role in popularizing smartphones globally through the Android platform developed by Google. Schmidt admitted that technology companies have long been “making money from users’ attention”.

“We were basically trying to monetize all of your waking hours with something, some form of advertising, some form of entertainment, some form of subscription…”, Eric Schmidt revealed.

Studies show that people's ability to concentrate is declining, partly due to the impact of technology.

According to Gloria Mark, a psychologist who studies attention, the average attention span of a person working in front of a computer screen has dropped to just 47 seconds, compared to 2.5 minutes two decades ago, when smartphones were not as popular as they are today.

Not only does it affect concentration at work, Eric Schmidt said that constant notifications sent to smartphones also challenge people's relaxation.

“The right thing to do to relax is to turn off your phone, and then relax according to 70,000 years of human tradition,” Eric Schmidt shared.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/cuu-ceo-google-dua-loi-khuyen-don-gian-de-giup-tap-trung-cho-cong-viec-20250722135216372.htm